"Vegemil," made by putting a doctor's mission into a single bottle of an ordinary drink
Love that gives back as much as it received, through the Hyechun Scholarship Foundation
Dr. Chung's Food is not a company that publishes a sustainability report every year. But considering the value of "Vegemil," the drink that represents Dr. Chung's Food, the concepts of Dr. Chung's Food and sustainability feel fairly close. Vegemil began as a therapeutic food created in 1967 by the late Honorary Chairman Chung Jae-won, Dr. Chung's Food's founder and honorary chairman. Honorary Chairman Chung, who was working as a pediatrician, learned of a disease called "lactose intolerance" while studying in the United States. Realizing that the cause of death for many children was that they could not properly digest the lactose contained in breast milk or cow's milk, he set out to develop a substitute food free of lactose. And after long, repeated research, in 1967 he created the plant-based nutritional milk "Vegemil."
Dr. Chung's Food's Sustainable Management 1. A Heart for Human Health
[The very first Vegemil, developed in a hospital basement © Dr. Chung's Food]
As can be understood from Dr. Chung's Food's founding ideal, "To devote this body to the culture of human health," Vegemil is a product made out of a single doctor's mission—to save children. The Vegemil born this way prepared for full-fledged sale after patenting and approval, but there were difficulties in immediately running a factory system. So Honorary Chairman Chung brought a small machine into the basement space next to his own pediatric clinic, which he was running in Hoehyeon-dong at the time, and produced soy milk as a cottage industry. Made by hand, only 500 bottles a day, Vegemil was dispensed at the pediatric clinic as a therapeutic food for young children then suffering from lactose intolerance. Later, to handle growing demand, a factory was built in Singal, Gyeonggi Province, in 1973, and Dr. Chung's Food began in earnest.
Dr. Chung's Food established itself as the No. 1 company leading the soy-milk industry over the past 50-odd years. Not stopping there, in 1991 it introduced Korea's first enteral-nutrition brand, "Greenbia." Greenbia, Korea's first food for special medical purposes, was developed for patients with special conditions who felt burdened by high import prices or had difficulty consuming products that did not suit the Korean constitution. Because demand is very limited given the nature of the product, it could not contribute greatly to corporate sales, but the birth of Greenbia reduced the cost burden for patients with special conditions and made it possible to supply nutrition suited to Koreans' nutritional requirements. Initially produced mainly with products for diabetic and kidney patients, Greenbia now produces about 20 kinds of various enteral-nutrition foods, helping a small number of patients with special conditions.
Dr. Chung's Food's Sustainable Management 2. Love That Gives Back as Much as It Received
[The 39th scholarship award ceremony, held in May 2023 ©Hyechun Scholarship Foundation]
A representative social-contribution activity of Dr. Chung's Food is the "Hyechun Scholarship Foundation," established in December 1984. The Hyechun Scholarship Foundation, named after Honorary Chairman Chung's pen name "Hyechun," began from his single-minded wish that "I want to make it so that no one has to agonize over their studies." Through the Hyechun Scholarship Foundation, which marks its 40th year since its birth this year, a total of 2,553 students have received support, and the cumulative scholarship amount alone reaches about 2.8 billion won. In 2020, amid a social atmosphere thrown into confusion by COVID-19, it increased the award amount by about 7 million won compared with the previous year for students facing difficulty in their studies due to economic hardship, paying out scholarships worth a total of 160 million won. The Hyechun Scholarship Foundation expands the number of scholarship recipients and the scale of scholarships every year so that more students can pursue their dreams, grow into excellent talent, and contribute to national development; this year, too, it paid scholarships to 45 undergraduate and graduate students with excellent academic records.
Dr. Chung's Food also steadily carries out social-contribution activities together with consumers. A representative example is the "GOOD_BUY" ethical-consumption campaign, conducted since 2009 with Good Neighbors, a global non-governmental organization (NGO) specializing in children's rights. It attached a campaign logo in the form of a "red heart on a box" to all Vegemil products so that part of the proceeds is used as funds to help operate local children's centers and vacation classes for low-income children who go without meals. To date, it has provided a total of about 400 million won in donations and products to children who go without meals, and through this it is striving to build a society in which children can grow up as whole persons. The "Vegemil of Love Thermometer Campaign," steadily conducted since 2012, is another social-contribution activity not to be left out. When consumers leave a like (empathy) or comment on a campaign post on Dr. Chung's Food's SNS channels, or upload a photo including Vegemil with the required campaign hashtags, the Vegemil of Love thermometer rises by 1℃ per action, and Dr. Chung's Food donates Vegemil in proportion to the temperature that has risen. The Vegemil gathered this way is delivered to donation recipients such as ChildFund Korea and the Korea Social Welfare Society, and is donated to many places in need, such as children's facilities, senior welfare centers, and welfare facilities for people with disabilities. In addition, as a regular sponsor of the Korea Blood Cancer Association and the Korea Heart Foundation, it donates a set amount each month, helping patients who cannot receive treatment due to economic hardship and their families live healthy and happy lives.
As if in return for the warm will to give the love it received back to society, Dr. Chung's Food has held the No. 1 spot in the soy-milk sector and No. 1 in Korea Industry Brand Power for 50 years. We look forward to the social-contribution activities carried on from its founding ideal continuing to serve as a great driving force for Dr. Chung's Food's sustainability.
by Editor L